In Community Development in an Uncertain World, Jim Ife draws on the principles of social justice, ecological responsibility and post-Enlightenment and Indigenous perspectives to advance new holistic approaches to community development. The book explores the concept of community development on a local and international scale in the context of globalisation and postcolonial theory. Students will gain the essential skills and practical understanding required to navigate the existing managerial environment and cultivate new community practices. This new edition incorporates current research into community development and includes important new work on 'alternative visions' for a sustainable and just future. It introduces the foundational theories of community development and explains their importance in shaping solutions to uniquely modern issues. Readers are encouraged to critically engage with the material through the accompanying discussion questions. Written in an accessible, engaging style, this text is an essential resource for students and professionals in the human services.
1. Crisis, transition and community; 2. Alternatives and transitions; 3. Foundations of community development: ecological and social justice perspectives; 4. Foundations of community development: post-Enlightenment and Indigenous perspectives; 5. A vision for community development; 6. Change from below; 7. The process of community development; 8. The global and the local; 9. Colonialism, colonialist practice and working internationally; 10. Community development: social, economic and political; 11. Community development: cultural, environmental, spiritual, personal and survival; 12. Principles of community development and their application to practice; 13. Roles and skills 1: facilitative and educational; 14. Roles and skills 2: representational and technical; 15. The organisational context; 16. Practice issues.
